Housing association celebrates channel shift success

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PA Housing is celebrating the first anniversary of its self-service website for tenants, created by digital marketing specialists for the housing sector Prodo Housing.

The My asra portal, which initially took 12 weeks to build, allows users to log in and manage their homes securely, giving them their rent balance, a summary of recent transactions and a printable record of their rent charges. It also lets them check on individual and communal repairs for their home.

Help and live chat features, payment options and the ability to request repairs, add pictures and select time slots to schedule repair work have all been incorporated into the system as additional features during its first year.

With 1,700 customers accessing the portal on a monthly basis, around 10,000 self-service processes are typically completed and 250 to 300 new users are registering each month.

Amit Patel, Director of Corporate Services, said: “The digital transformation programme is a proud achievement in the timescales in which it has been accomplished, given the complexity of the project.

“Prodo understood common pressures between the business, suppliers and technology in delivering digital transformation, and together we had the ability to understand drivers of our customers and operational metrics.

“Customers are our judges, and including them along the journey to reshape services and changing how the businesses operates was vital. Success was dependent on how well and how fast we responded and Prodo gave us that insight and framework to align a great idea and a great outcome.

“Thanks to a good working relationship, aligning to the vison and an agile approach, we’ve produced a successful solution and a great customer experience with alternative ways to engage with PA Housing.”

Ivo Kerkhof, Head of Prodo Housing, said: “It’s great to see the positive impact that My asra has had in taking customer service on line, providing a really convenient way for tenants to manage their homes.

“There are many practical benefits from an organisational perspective, too. For instance, since the portal launched a year ago, there’s been 14% reduction in call volumes. Features such as self-service repairs proved immediately popular – we saw 160 tenants taking advantage of this function alone in its first month.”

Kerkhof concluded: “It’s all about providing a positive digital experience and we’re looking forward to continuing to evolve the portal to meet customers’ needs in the future.”